When Bianca and I wrote this song, both of us found ourselves in a dry place. Even though we’d been close friends for years, this was our first cowrite and neither of us knew what to expect. I’d been mainly writing songs for church, Bianca in the RnB/singer-songwriter space. But one thing that both Bee and I value so much in our songwriting and, to be honest, in our lives, is the pursuit of something authentic and real. And that’s the place that we started to write this song from.
The words really tumbled out on the page, an ease and vulnerability brought about by the kind of safety that a 10-year friendship brings - neither of us afraid to share our shadow side, neither of us holding back for fear of being judged. This was a song that was flowing from a place we were both in, so there was a sense of urgency in the room, because we were hungry for the end product - a song that we really needed to sing.
We landed on the simple refrain, Still I will praise and even since we finished writing the song, life has presented many opportunities to keep singing that defiant phrase. This isn’t meant to be a chorus to encourage us to ‘keep pretending like everything is ok when it’s really not and just smile and praise on’. It’s a chorus that invites us into deeper trust and deeper faith in the midst of pain and grief and disappointment, and all of the other things that life throws at us that tries to put distance between ourselves and God. The kind of faith that doesn’t try and erase pain or pretend it’s not there, but that stands in the middle of it and says, Jesus, I’m still going to praise you and I’m still going to expect that I’ll know you are here in the middle of this.
As we wrote, Bee and I reflected on the fact that there’s a precious kind of praise that we can only give to God this side of heaven. In eternity, we won’t experience the dysfunction and distance and hardship that we go through on earth. And so, there is a sweetness to the choice to draw near to God on our most broken, worn our and disbelieving days. That the choice to say Still I Will Praise which in my mind could be replaced with Still I will love, Still I will trust, Still I will wait, Still I will hold on, is one of the most sacred offerings we can give to Jesus.
We really pray that this song will meet you where you need it and that it will give voice to your faith as well.
